The Middle East’s biggest airline, Emirates, said Tuesday its profits were up by about 56 percent to $1.9 billion in the last fiscal year largely due to lower oil prices that drove down fuel operating costs.
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2015-16 has been most profitable for dnata, world’s largest air service provider and is a part of the Emirates Group. dnata crossed $ 287 million profit for the first time and revenue grew to $2.9 billion. dnata’s global business now accounts for more than 64 percent of its revenue.
Emirates, one of the world’s largest airlines in terms of passengers, said that net profit rose 56 per cent to Dh7.1 billion for the financial year ending March 31.
The group’s revenue reached AED93 billion (US$25.3 billion), a decrease of three per cent over last year’s results, and the group’s cash balance increased strongly to AED23.5 billion (US$6.4 billion).
During the year, Emirates SkyCargo increased all-cargo capacity to Mexico City, and launched new freighter services to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Ahmedabad in India, Columbus in the US, Algiers in Algeria and Ciudad Del Este in Paraguay. “These will build on our strong foundations, extend our competitive edge and accelerate our progress towards our long-term goals”, he added.
The Group’s employee base across more than 80 subsidiaries and companies increased by 13 per cent to over 95,000 people, of 160 different nationalities.
“The strong dollar against major currencies will continue to be a challenge”, Sheikh Ahmed said at a press conference in Dubai.
Values for the 777-300ER – the backbone of Emirates’ fleet – have been under scrutiny in the past year and questions also surround the resale possibilities of the A380 in a market where no other operator has taken the aircraft in volume.
Overall passenger traffic growth continues to demonstrate the consumer desire to fly on Emirates’ aircraft and via efficient routings through its Dubai hub.
The Emirates Group has seen a mixed bag of financial results. Africa and Gulf and Middle East revenue decreased each by 3% to AED 9.1 billion (US$ 2.5 billion) and AED 8.4 billion (US$ 2.3 billion) respectively; and West Asia and Indian Ocean revenue decreased by 4% to AED 7.6 billion (US$ 2.1 billion).
These deals align with Emirates’ strategy to seek diverse financing sources and underscore its sound financials and the strong investor confidence in the airline’s business model.
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The airline also carried 8% more passengers during the year, achieving and exceeding the 50 million passenger mark for the first time to end the year at 51.9 million passengers.
